Sociodemographic variations in communication on sexuality and HIV/AIDS with parents, family members and teachers among in-school adolescents: A multi-site study in Tanzania and South Africa

Abstract

In all three sites, a substantial proportion of adolescents reported not communicating with their parents about HIV/AIDS, abstinence, or condoms. The low proportion of explained variation in sexuality communication implies that silence is common across sociodemographic subgroups.

Caretaker-Adolescent Communication on Sexuality and Reproductive Health: My Perceptions Matter; A Qualitative Study on Adolescents’ Perspectives in Unguja-Zanzibar

“…The majority chose parents as their preferred person to communicate with about sexuality because they believe that their parents/caretakers know them and understand them well since they live under one roof and spend much time together. This finding concurs with the finding of Guilamo-Ramos et al (2012) and Namisi et al (2009) which also showed that adolescents chose parents as the preferred source of information about sexual topics [26] [34]. This implies that caretakers are significant individuals to be included in any intervention aiming at reducing young people's sexual risky behaviours.…”

Sexual and Reproductive Health Communication Between Mothers and Their Adolescent Daughters in Northern Nigeria

“…There have been suggestions that parents, especially mothers, should provide sexuality and education to youth in Africa (Namisi et al, 2009). An underlying assumption is that parents are knowledgeable, experienced, and willing to impart such knowledge.…”

Factors Associated with Parent–Child Communication About HIV/AIDS in the United States and Kenya: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

“…Historically, it is considered taboo for parents in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa to discuss sexual issues with their children [14,15]; instead, sex education came from extended family members or during pubertal initiation rites [16]. Due to socio-economic changes that have altered family structures and social norms, these traditional systems of communication have been uprooted, leaving a gap in children's sex education [15,[17][18][19][20].…”

“…Historically, it is considered taboo for parents in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa to discuss sexual issues with their children [14,15]; instead, sex education came from extended family members or during pubertal initiation rites [16]. Due to socio-economic changes that have altered family structures and social norms, these traditional systems of communication have been uprooted, leaving a gap in children's sex education [15,[17][18][19][20]. While there are cultural challenges to promoting parent-child communication about sexual issues in sub-Saharan Africa, to the authors' knowledge there is no evidence that such strategies could not be as effective at reducing adolescent sexual risk behavior as has been shown in the US, particularly since youth in Africa are receptive to receiving information about sexuality from their parents [14].…”

“…African Americans, with an HIV prevalence of 1.7%, are over seven times more likely to have HIV than non-Hispanic whites, who have an HIV prevalence of 0.2%. Furthermore, although African American adolescents (ages [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] only make up 17% of the adolescent population, they accounted for 70% of new HIV diagnoses reported among teens in 2006 in the 33 states reporting [29]. US data from 2007 show that among African American students, 26% of males and 7% of females report initiating sex before age 13 [30], providing an estimate of just how early information needs to be transmitted to children in order to reach them before sexual initiation.…”